Burmese python killed in Florida Everglades

Feb. 6, 2014
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Bobby Hill, invasive species technician for the South Florida Water Management District, kneels over the 17-foot-8-inch Burmese python after it had been shot. / Courtesy of South Florida Water Management District

by Jolie Lee, USA TODAY Network

by Jolie Lee, USA TODAY Network

Florida officials shot and killed a 17-foot-8-inch Burmese python in the Florida Everglades this week.

It's uncommon to come across the species because they are "very elusive," said Gabe Margasak, a spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District, in an interview with USA TODAY Network.

Members of the water district came across the 150-pound python on Tuesday while doing a routine levee inspection 5 miles north of the Tamiami Trail, Margasak said.

The python is the second-largest Burmese python in length caught in the wild in Florida. The largest was 18 feet 8 inches long, said Frank Mazzotti, a wildlife ecology professor at the University of Florida and the leader of the necropsy (autopsy) of the Burmese python killed this week.

Other media outlets incorrectly reported that the python shot this week was more than 18 feet. Mazzotti said his team measured the length of the python three times and came up with the 17-foot-8-inch length.

The University of Florida team examined the python's stomach, which appeared empty. They also found about 300 egg follicles in the female snake, but it's uncertain if she was going to reproduce, Mazzotti said.

Native to Southeast Asia, Burmese pythons are an invasive species that feed on native wildlife, including threatened and endangered species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Nowhere else on the planet has such a large constrictor been introduced and established in a foreign locale as a result of the exotic pet trade," according to Everglades National Park.

The number of Burmese pythons in Florida is unknown. Estimates range from tens of thousands to as many as 100,000, said Linda Friar, spokesperson for the Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks, in an interview with USA TODAY Network.

One thing is for sure, she said: There are a lot.

"Our goal is to manage and reduce as best we can, but eradication is probably not achievable," she said.

The National Park Service, which oversees the parks, has tried different projects to control the Burmese python population, including python-sniffing dogs, implanting microchips in a female python to lead to male pythons and an app for reporting python sightings.